Catch Up

Friday:

• A great meeting where I heard some wonderful talks by a few shining women. You can read about them here, here and here. They don't normally come all the way to Maine, but I sure am glad they came.
• Safety
• Spiritual growth

Saturday:

• Mike's help in preparing for Sunday
• The many errands that I was able to get done
• Caleb's friends
• the broom
• a dead mouse (our third this year, plus a mole)
• a clean house
• antacid (heartburn, you know?)
• my bed

Sunday:

• Cooperative kids (we were on time for church, even though Mike went early and wasn't here to help get the kids ready)
• Liam found his own socks
• the "munch-n-mingle" after church
• smiling babies
• honesty
• Caleb had a pleasant disposition. All day. That's rare. (I am so happy to count it.)
• egg salad sandwiches
• the heater in the van
• my Sunday nap

Monday:

• Cub Scouts
• the food drive we are doing
• warmth
• the unity our family feels when we do good together
• the annual cookie swap invitation
• Baby Magic lotion
• scented candles
• my hair color (at 40 it's never been dyed, nor do I have the gray to necessitate a dye job)
• that Audrey didn't *die in her sleep today. Thank the good Lord for guardian angels.

*****This morning (sometime before her nap), Audrey was showing signs of having swallowed something. Harrison comes to me and said "Mom, Audrey is choking!!" When I got to her she was swallowing over, and over, and over and her eyes were watering and her face was red. After a few seconds, she seemed fine (not in distress) and I assumed she "got it down," whatever "it" was.

Fast forward an hour or so.....I put her down for her nap, thinking nothing of the choking incident. A couple hours later I heard her hollering from her crib. I sent Harrison up to get her. I hear him giggling and he said "Mom, I think you have a mischief baby, here. I think she had a marker in her crib. Her lips and tongue are blue." He brought her to me and the first thing I noticed is that her face was white, I mean WHITE!! Then I noticed that her lips and her tongue were blue. I then sent the kids upstairs to search for a marker, a crayon, a colored pencil....anything that she could have sucked on to make her mouth blue. By this time she was walking around, happy, and didn't seem to be in distress. She was singing, talking, being her regular cute self that she always is after a good nap. She looked weird but was acting totally normal. So I took her out on the porch (where the light is better) so I could get a better look at her. By this time her lips were starting to look red again. I call Mike and ask him what to do. After another minute or so, she was normal color again. Mike says do this, this and this. Then call the doctor. The doctor suggested bringing her to the hospital for an x-ray. So I left the kids here watching a movie and took the baby, knowing that Mike would be home shortly. She screamed through the x-ray and was anxious to tell all of those techs "bye" as soon as her shoes were back on her feet. We had to wait in the waiting room to talk to the doctor. He said there was "something foriegn" in her stomach but it was "no longer compromising her airway." " So what does that mean......that her whole nap she had a compromised airway?"

"Well, yes." He says. "That is most likely. Count your blessings."

KKS